Public Statements

Immigration

From the rallies across our nation, to Capitol Hill, to the President's speech last week, illegal immigration talk is everywhere. With every campaign update we send, we get replies asking for our stance on illegal immigration. This issue has struck a nerve with every voter in America. This is the time for voters to know where the candidates stand.

I want to be clear, I do not like amnesty. Whether the U.S. should give amnesty or just deport those who are here illegally is a moot debate until we fix the bigger problem. The priority is to stop the influx of illegal immigration from the southern border as soon as possible. I believe the President outlined a strong plan to do exactly that.

The costs of fences, border guards, and utilization of technology will be more than offset by the savings of not having those illegal immigrants who fill our prisons and use our healthcare courtesy of you the tax payer. That is why it must come first, then we can get a handle on a true number of illegal immigrants in this nation and develop policy to deal with that as a separate issue.

On the other side of this issue is the bureaucracy in legal immigration. The process is layered with much friction and delay. I believe we need quicker turn around in helping those who want to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and become citizens in doing so. Their application should be processed faster, without compromising the background checks. And then, when these immigrants can pass a civics test in English, they are sworn in as Americans.

One other policy issue Congress needs to address before ending this session is to make it a felony for an illegal immigrant to try and vote to influence the outcome of an election. The integrity of our election system is the conduit from which freedom flows throughout our nation. To allow foreign nations to influence those elections is a terrifying thought. We must not allow illegal immigrants, or anyone who is not a citizen to dilute your vote.

We are going to Washington with this policy. You can help get us there. Please consider contributing or volunteering. We can make real change.